Comforting Arms
by tumshie
Summary: A Harry/Tonks post final battle fic, A/U. A glimpse into their lives after the defeat of Voldemort. This is a repost with some editing of grammar/spelling and some changes to the narrative to help the story flow.


Disclaimer: Harry Potter and other canon characters belong to JKR I'm only having some fun

Harry stirred in bed as he felt the mattress bounce up and down and reluctantly opened his eyes as he felt two small hands press on his cheeks. He looked into a pair of bright green eyes, mirror images of his own, and heard his daughter shout.

"HEY, BRUV, DADDY'S AWAKE."

"Morning, Monsters, now what's so special that you needed to waken me up?" he asked feigning ignorance that it was Christmas Day.

"Daddy, stop being silly, it's Christmas and Mummy says no presents 'til we all have breakfast," said his children in unison.

Harry was used to this type of twinspeak from Andi and Jamie, it was better than the finishing of each others sentences which they also did, but strange none the less.

"Okay" he said "go to the kitchen and I'll be down when I've showered, tell Mummy I'll be ten minutes, and tell Dobby just a small breakfast" he watched as his four year olds disappeared out of the room and clattered down the stairs sounding like a herd of Hippogriffs.

As he stepped into the shower and let the magically scented water flow over him he closed his eyes and let his thoughts wander.

**_FLASHBACK:_**

It was the 6th of June, Harry had finished his N.E.W.T.s and he and the remaining 7th years were sitting under the trees by the side of the Hogwarts lake watching the fifth years discuss O.W.L.s, the younger students were chasing around, some of them were swimming in the lake while others were playing with the Giant Squid.

Harry, Hermione and Ron hadn't actually attended any 7th year classes as they had spent the year researching and hunting down Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes as Dumbledore had asked them. Order members had tutored them in N.E.W.T. subjects and the Aurors in the group had trained them to the level of 2nd year Trainee Aurors, all this having been accomplished by illicit use of Time-Turners and learning enhancement potions.

Ginny had never forgiven Harry for splitting up with her and had found comfort in the arms of Colin Creevey. Harry was happy for her and even happier for Colin because he had been sure Colin was gay with the way he had hero worshipped him.

An explosion in the distance startled them, a siren began to wail and McGonagall's magically amplified voice sounded round the castle and its grounds. "Attention all student's and staff, Death Eaters have attacked Hogsmeade, everyone please go to their designated post immediately. This is not a drill!"

As the command started to repeat, all 1st to 4th year students made their way into the castle where they were gathered in groups and Portkeyed to the Ministry of Magic.

The remaining students broke into groups, some went to the Hospital Wing and started preparing to receive the inevitable casualties, others took up defensive positions and the remainder got ready to go on the offensive.

Hermione and Professor Flitwick made their way to the Chamber of Secrets, they had a special mission: The destruction of the three Horcruxes already captured, Ravenclaw's Diadem, Slytherin's locket, and Hufflepuff's Goblet. Fawkes would be watching the battle and as soon as Nagini was slain he would fire travel to the chamber and the Horcruxes would be dropped into the magical fire that would destroy them.

Harry and the D.A. made their way to the village, as they stepped out the gates they were joined by an army of Centaurs. Some Death Eaters had attacked a group of female Centaurs who were with the herd's foals and soon after Bane had approached Hagrid offering an alliance in battle. To the side, hidden within the woods, they could hear rustling and Ron felt a shiver run down his spine as he realised that Aragog and his children were on the move.

On the outskirts of Hogsmeade they met up with the fleeing villagers as they made their way towards the castle, Hogwarts elves were slapping self activating Portkeys onto any injured villagers and they were being sent straight to St. Mungo's, Hogwarts would be a field aid station to stabilise the seriously wounded before transferring them to St. Mungo's.

As they entered the village they came face to face with the first group of Death Eaters, who were momentarily distracted, as they looted the empty buildings or played out their sick fantasies on the villagers that they had captured. The first time the Death Eaters were aware of anything going wrong with their plans was when their victims disappeared before their eyes. Their shock didn't really have time to register as Harry and his army laid into them. No tickling curses or Stupefies were sent, every curse was designed to put the Death Eaters out of the battle permanently. As the 7th years attacked, the 6th years shielded their comrades and the 5th years incarcerated any living Death Eater and snapped any wands they found. The injured Death Eaters were left where they fell.

Harry's group moved forward, and came across another group of Death Eaters, this group had broken open the cellars of The Hog's Head and The Three Broomsticks and were getting drunk on the contents. Harry felt nothing but contempt for them and asked the Centaurs to deal with it. Bane obliged and the Centaurs proceeded to chase them into the waiting trees from where none emerged, the spiders weren't seen for two years after the battle.

"Wittle Hawwwy, cwom pway wiv me."

He recognised the mock baby voice, Bellatrix Lestrange!

He looked round and saw her remove her mask. "Hi ickle bitty Trixie" he replied mocking her, "How's big bad Rudolphus these days, oh sorry, I forgot I killed him in Diagon Alley at Halloween, oh and Rastaban too."

"Don't call me Trixie." She screamed the taunting voice gone and the madness shining in her eyes. "Now, this is for my husband."

She let fly with a cutting curse which Harry deflected back into the group of Death Eaters, the one it hit fell to the ground his neck severed, his mask fell off revealing Draco Malfoy, who had plotted the murder of Dumbledore and with his usual competence had failed, leaving Snape to complete the act.

The Death Eater next to him fell over dead, his mask falling away to reveal their former Potions Professor, killed for failing to fulfil the oath he hade made to protect his Godson.

As she watched in horror as her nephew died, Bellatrix didn't notice the killing curses sent at her by Lucius and Narcissa and fell, slain by her own family for killing one of her own.

Harry's core group, Ron Weasley, Tonks, Remus Lupin, Colin Creevey, Dobby and Winky, ignored the chaos of battle that erupted with the slaying of Bellatrix and calmly made their way through the battle, disabling any Death Eater that got in their way.

Finally in the Village Square, they came across Voldemort accompanied by Nagini and Wormtail. Wormtail was reporting back from the various fire-fights, Voldemort's forces were gradually gaining the upper hand when the sound of a large group Apparating was heard. The Aurors had finally arrived after being held up by some wards erected by the Death Eaters. Voldemort sent Nagini to attack Harry's group but the snake was stopped dead as Harry decapitated and incinerated it.

Voldemort felt the loss of power and turned to face his nemesis, "So, Potter, you knew about Nagini, but you still can't beat me" as he finished speaking Harry saw him visibly age, it was as if his life force was being drawn from him.

"Well, Tom, looks like it's just you and me, we found everything, and that was them being destroyed, oh and blame Lucius for the diary, he didn't really know what it was when he gave it to Ginny."

Looking almost as bad as he did in Harry's first year Voldemort started battling with Harry, the two danced round each other, probing at the others defences casting a range of curses and charms that the others could only watch in amazement. The battle ground to a halt as word spread that Potter and Voldemort were going head to head. A circle was gradually formed round the combatants. Everyone was amazed, where normally Voldemort taunted his opponents until they lost control and made a mistake, Harry was doing the taunting. He took every chance he had to call him Tom and spilled all his secrets, about him being a Halfblood, about him living in a Muggle orphanage, about him killing Purebloods everything he could think of, he even threw in a few lies, after all, who could deny them.

Finally Voldemort lost it, he let his anger get the better of him and stopped planning his moves, suddenly, he found himself on the ground with Potter holding a sword against his neck.

"You'll never do it, Potter" he snarled, "To goody-goody Gryffindor to take a life."

"Maybe" replied Harry. "but my Slytherin side says I can, ask Rudolphus and Rastaban when you meet them in hell."

With that, Harry pushed his weight down on the sword twisting the blade as it cut through Voldemorts neck, severing his jugular. As Voldemort's blood pumped onto the cobbled street Harry pulled the sword out of the dying man's neck and lopped off his head with one stroke.

As the head rolled away he heard Colin's camera shutter click over and over, Ron and Tonks incinerated the head and body as previously agreed and Harry banished the ashes and bloodstained cobbles leaving no discernible trace of the former Tom Riddle.

The watching Death Eaters tried to escape as their leader died but found they couldn't, the Dark Mark was a symbiotic link between them but rooted in Voldemort, with the master connection gone they were no better than Squibs.

A scream of pain followed by a wail of anguish assaulted Harry's ears, he watched in horror as Pettigrew drew his silver hand across Moony's throat, cutting into it. The last of the true Marauders fell to the ground dying from silver poisoning, without second thought Harry swung his sword and killed Wormtail.

Tonks was on the ground hugging Moony's body as his life ebbed from him, Harry knelt beside the last of his parents' closest group of friends, Moony looked at both him and Tonks, and with his dying breath said, "look after each other for me."

A week later Tonks and Harry were in Harry's house in Godric's Hollow, the house where he had been born, where his parents had died to save him, and the only place he felt safe. Neither he nor Tonks had been able to go back to 12 Grimmauld Place, Harry because it had been Sirius' house and Tonks because it was where she had met and fallen in love with Remus.

They hadn't spoken much, the previous week having been taken up with burying the dead and giving statements to the press and the Ministry.

The remaining Death Eaters had been monitored by St. Mungo's and the Unspeakables and showed no sign of regaining their former magical abilities. They were then Obliviated of all knowledge of magic and placed in a Muggle house, which the Muggle authorities raided after an anonymous tip and found they had stumbled on a terrorist group, all of them were sent to a Muggle prison for life.

That night they said goodnight and went to their respective rooms, Harry had used dreamless sleep potions every night since the battle and was struggling to switch off when he heard Tonks weeping. He went into her room, she was lying face down on the bed sobbing uncontrollably. It was an awkward situation for him, but he knelt beside the bed and started rubbing her shoulders, speaking softly to her and promising to do as Remus asked and take care of her.

Tonks turned to face him and threw her arms round his shoulders, it was an uncomfortable position, so Tonks stood off the bed and led him across to a small couch where they fell asleep in each others arms, neither slept alone after that, although nothing sexual happened they found the comfort and security they needed in each other's arms.

As the weeks grew into months, they found that they were falling for each other, the seven year age gap made no difference, they couldn't bear to be apart, very few people understood, yes, others had lost people in the battle but no one had lost what they had.

Six months later they were married in a quiet ceremony, with two random passer-bys pressed into service to be witnesses. Their friends were angry but understood as Harry couldn't step onto the street without being mobbed.

The following year, a week before their anniversary Tonks gave birth to their twins, fortunately not identical, a boy and a girl. They named their daughter Andi after her grandmother Andromeda and Jamie was named for Harry's father.

Gradually, they eased back into Wizarding society, setting up charities and overseeing the Potter and Black fortunes. They demolished 12 Grimmauld Place and built a house which they called Padfoot's Sanctuary. It was a haven for magical children, somewhere they could go to escape the prejudices of either Muggle or Wizarding society.

Harry's musings stopped and he closed his eyes, "I'm still looking after her, Remus."

_**END FLASHBACK**_

Harry walked into the kitchen and kissed his wife good morning, Jamie and Andi were finishing their breakfast so he grabbed some buttered toast and quickly ate it. The family moved through to what they called the Marauders Den, the family only sitting room and gathered round the tree, the children whooped in delight as each present was opened, especially when they found a toy broom each and a children's Quidditch set, the balls were all soft and designed not to knock them off their brooms but to leave a magical mark if it hit a player.

At last there was just one present left to open, Tonks handed it to Harry, it was a large box, when he opened it he found another box, then another, and another until finally he lifted out two baby's bootees. He looked at his wife with tears welling in his eyes and she nodded and said. "Yes, Poppy say sometime in the summer, near the end of July."

"Brilliant" he said as they drew each other into their comforting arms, only vaguely aware of their twins saying.

"Yeuch, they're being soppy again."


End file.
